Favorite Things: Bible Journaling

I guess it’s true . . . . what is old becomes new again, sooner or later. Or, sometimes it’s referred to this way: “What goes around, comes around.” And if you live long enough, you will discover how many times that will happen in your lifetime. One of the things that I’ve realized is a “new” trend that lots of people have been doing for a really long time, is what is now called “Bible Journaling.” That’s a catchy name and it is a great way to encourage people to get creative with their study of the Scriptures.

My poor old Bible is pretty much in tatters. But when when the cover started to fall off a few years ago, I couldn’t bear to part with it, so my family bought me a Bible cover to hold it all together. With a pretty pink, black, and white quilted cover, a zipper, and a handle, I can still use my familiar, favorite Bible, probably for the rest of my life. I’ve tried using a new Bible. I even have several other Bibles that are very nice and they are brand-new. But they are not familiar, like my old Bible. I know where verses are that I’ve underlined, circled, and starred over the years. I have notes that I wrote in the margins during times of study, and times of great sadness and despair. It’s like an old friend who knows all my secrets, and a new one just wouldn’t be the same.

With all those notes and squiggles and underlines and circles, I’ve found that my Bible is a precious treasure that reminds me not only of God’s love, faithfulness, promises, and holiness but it also reminds me of the places and times where He carried me through some very dark days. So writing in my Bible was just kind of a natural way of recording those memories of time of joy and times of brokenness. But it never occurred to me to color in my Bible. Until I started reading about all of the “new” ways of Bible journaling. And then I realized that I had been doing that for many years, just not quite so boldly or creatively. I guess it’s time to step up my game!

And then I recalled all of the beautiful illuminated manuscripts that I studied once upon a time when I was doing my academic studies in Medieval Church history. The beautiful drawings and embellishments that were used in those books, hundreds of years ago, are still a testament to the devotion and loyalty to God by the only people of that day and age who could read and write. The monks in the monasteries would write out the Scriptures and other prayer books, by hand, and they would include beautiful colored drawings to help the people understand the story of God’s love and His gift of grace through Jesus. Because the average person back then could not read the words, so the pictures were the best way to tell that story. Bible journaling in the beginning of God’s story of redemption. We continue to tell that story, and we also can bring our own love of God’s Word into our own Bible through journaling the pages of His Love Letter to us.

I guess it is time to begin my own, more colorful and creative, spiritual journey through the Bible and start doing some doodling, drawing, and even painting and coloring in my old Bible. I hope it will hold up for another few years because this it the one that I just can’t part with. Have you thought about Bible journaling? I would love to see what you do with your designs in your Bible. I’ll show you some of my pages as soon as I get up the courage to start adding some color to my drawings, underlines, circles, and starred verses.

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Hi Nina,
I am numbers 194, 195, and 196 this week! We enjoyed a couple days of sun before more rain today….
Did you know that you can buy a “Creative Bible” that already has verses and pictures ready to color?

I have a new Link Party starting on my blog tomorrow at 8 p.m. EST if you want to join us!

Wonderful features this week! Thank you for hosting this opportunity to bring bloggers together and share their posts. I look forward to your party each week. #OverTheMoon #WWBlogHop #ThursdayFavoriteThings.